Seeking
by Leslie Lady of Light
Summary: Lily Evans joins a Quidditch team for the summer, little knowing that she would meet the man who will change her life forever...James Potter, of course.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This is a fic slightly based off the movie Bend it Like Beckham. At least, it starts that way. We'll see how it turns out.  
  
Disclaimer: This was not written with any intent to plagiarise or steal ideas or characters from either J. K. Rowling or the movie Bend it Like Beckham.  
  
Ch. 1  
  
Lily Evans shook her head tiredly. She had just graduated from Hogwarts, and to tell the truth, had no idea what to answer her best friend, Katrina Worthington. Kat had just asked her what she was planning on doing after school. Lily, who had always been a rather good student, had secret hopes of becoming an Auror, but knowing they accepted only the better than best, didn't really want to voice that wish aloud.  
  
"Maybe I'll play Quidditch..." she muttered as she packed her trunk.  
  
Kat's eyes widened. "Oh, Lil, you could!" she cried seriously. "I mean, you're awesome at it and you've been on the school team for six years and, what a great idea!!" Lily shook her head wearily.  
  
"Come on, Kat, do you really think my parents would like that? They might be Muggles but they still want me to have a worthwhile career."  
  
"Yeah, but this is not a career, it's just a bit of fun before you go and study some more and become an Auror," she added slyly.  
  
"How the hell did you know about that?" Lily demanded, unable to keep from blushing. Kat rolled her eyes.  
  
* * *  
  
As it turned out, Lily's parents weren't really thrilled with the idea of their bright daughter wasting her time playing sports, but after Lily promised them that it was only until she received the results of her NEWTS and found out whether or not she had made it into Auror training, they agreed.  
  
* * *  
  
Lily immediately set about contacting the local teams, none of which needed an opening for a Seeker. A little frustrated, she next tried the county teams, then the state. Finally, at the state level, there came an offer.  
  
Most of the managers she spoke to weren't interested in signing her on for an uncertain number of months, and without any recommendation other than that of her House Quidditch captain. Where the highest praise that Fisher could bestow on Lily would have counted for something at regionals, at state levels, they were like child's play. The fifth person Lily talked to one Saturday soon after the start of her holidays finally agreed to let her come out and show her skills.  
  
* * *  
  
The day of the tryouts was bright and sunny. Lily, who had memorised the directions, Apparated there at seven in the morning, hoping that she would have some time to get used to the pitch and the conditions. Unfortunately, even though she was two hours early, the team was already there.  
  
She walked down to the field, taking in the calm surroundings and utter silence, broken only by the calls of a dark-haired man, obviously the coach and the shouts of the team members as they flew around, high above the ground.  
  
The dark-haired man frowned as he spotted her, and signaling to the others to continue, flew over to her, falling into a steep dive to land smoothly in front of her. Lily seemed unimpressed by his daring; she probably could have done moves as smooth herself.  
  
Lily looked up at him and smiled nervously. He had dark raven-black hair and piercing eyes that should have been grey, that she expected to be grey, but that had to settle for a warm hazel. The expression in them, consisting of irritation at the interruption and annoyance at her obvious nervousness, didn't match with them at all. He wore a pair of thin glasses, through which he was surveying her a little curiously and more than a little confusedly.  
  
"I'm Lily Evans. I called you Saturday about the position you had open..." The man nodded and she continued, "Sorry I'm a little early, I wanted to come out and see the pitch..." She trailed off, the man was frowning at her.  
  
Abruptly he turned away from her and beckoned a short plump witch with brown hair. She was holding a clipboard, and staring up at the players but when she spotted the man beckoning, she hurried over.  
  
"May, did you ask a-a," he turned to her,  
  
"Lily Evans," she repeated.  
  
"Yeah, did you ask her to come out today to try out for Chaser?" he asked with a soft Irish accent.  
  
"No, not Chaser, Seeker," Lily corrected.  
  
"No, we need a Chaser." At the startled look on Lily's face, he frowned at May. "Damn it, May, can't you even get the positions right? Can you play Chaser at all?"  
  
Lily blushed and shook her head. The man frowned. "Damn," he said again. "That means I'll have to."  
  
"What?"  
  
"What? I'm the seeker, but I can do chaser too." Frowning, he added, "though I PREFER seeker." Lily blushed again.  
  
"D'you have a broom?" Lily nodded and held it up.  
  
"Good then, let's get going."  
  
"Sorry?"  
  
"What now?" he asked, impatient with her hesitation.  
  
"Don't I-do I have to- try out or anything?"  
  
He grinned. "No, I can tell you're good." At her unconvinced expression, he sighed and said impatiently, "Truth is we need another player now, chaser, seeker doesn't matter what. And you look all right to me. So s'far as I'M concerned, you're in. And as I'm captain and coach, it's what I say that matters."  
  
He grinned again, and Lily thought, full of himself. He turned back around and hurried off.  
  
"Ah, Coach?" Lily called after him. He turned around again, thoroughly frustrated. "Your name?"  
  
He flashed her a smile.  
  
"James Potter." 


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Just a quickie. Enjoy (I hope!)  
  
Disclaimer: Innocent until proven guilty? * Hides behind computer * Don't sue me!  
  
Ch. 2  
  
Lily, it turned out, fit right in with the team. The other men and women were nice to her, and particularly grateful to her, as it was, as James said, her fault, that he was playing.  
  
James worked them hard and only when Lily began to feel a little dizzy did he let them go.  
  
"Are all practices this long?" she asked a pretty girl with long blond hair who had smiled at her and introduced herself as Darcy Morris.  
  
"No, he was just testing you. You were really good out there, not to mention you lasted longer than any of us have at the beginning."  
  
Lily nodded and tried to smile instead sat down unsteadily on one of the bench's in the locker room, clutching her head.  
  
Lily soon brought her stuff and had moved into the same set of villas as the rest of the team. She shared a villa with Darcy, who soon became a good friend. Darcy, in addition to being extremely friendly also gave her the general gossip about the team.  
  
Lily soon found out from her that their team was the best in the region and always came out first in the district levels competitions, that the Flying Fireballs (their team) was notorious for training in the middle of the mountains and using bits of ice for their snitches, (Lily could've believed that, it was cold enough) and also learned the personal history of each player, as much as he or she had told, and the rest what Darcy knew and what they themselves had no idea Darcy knew.  
  
For instance, she learned that James, who had attended Hogwarts four years before Lily, had been signed on to Flying Fireballs and played with them for a season before he had injured his knee so bad he couldn't play anymore.  
  
Then he had taken over the role of coaching, something he had done for three years. It was only when Lily came on that he had reluctantly, so he told the team, though they constantly teased him that he had secretly been longing for an excuse, taken over the position of head Chaser. "And only so we can win the damn thing this year!"  
  
* * *  
  
Lily was stretching on the floor of the living room, in front of a blazing fire. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt that said Oxford University on it, listening as Darcy read aloud a hilarious article from their favorite magazine.  
  
It was snowing outside, as usual, as Lily would say. Both of them were laughing after each sentence, Lily still trying to do her stretches to keep her stiff ankles flexible.  
  
The door suddenly banged open bringing in a gust of cold wind, and a whirlwind covered in snow. Lily jumped up and ran to shut the door behind the person, who was so completely covered in snow that she had no idea who it was.  
  
Darcy was helping the person dust off the snow, revealing a wet and smiling James Potter.  
  
"I came to find out what you two found so funny; we could hear you next door, through the storm."  
  
Lily glanced out the window unhappily; she hated the awful weather they had up here, but turned back to James, smiling.  
  
"Read this," Darcy commanded, thrusting the magazine into his hands. James raised his eyebrows.  
  
"What's this? Reading a 'Banned' book?" he teased. It was a standing joke that James didn't let the team read anything other than Quidditch magazines and books, a rule that they all broke every day, James included, for lack of anything else better to do during the long storms.  
  
But he read it, and couldn't help laughing as well.  
  
"Isn't it hilarious? I'm going to get Amy and Kurt too," Darcy announced, running outside and over next door in nothing but her slippers. Lily ran to close the door behind her.  
  
"She's crazy," she said with a smile. James nodded.  
  
"Oxford University? What's that?" James asked curiously.  
  
"It's a Muggle school. My brother goes there."  
  
"That would explain why it looks about ten times too big for you," James said with a grin. "Got any more oversized clothes you'd mind lending me? This is completely soaked," pointing to his shirt.  
  
Lily laughed but went into the bedroom to root through her closet. She came back with another similar t-shirt and a pair of what were obviously boys' shorts. James raised his eyebrows at Lily, who blushed.  
  
"My brother's."  
  
"Ah, and does 'your brother' have a name?"  
  
"Chase." James went into the bathroom to change and Lily made hot chocolate in the kitchen.  
  
"Where is Darcy?" she wondered aloud a couple of minutes later, as James wandered back into the main room. He grinned.  
  
"Don't you know?"  
  
"Know what?"  
  
"You mean Darcy's been giving you all the gossip on everybody but her? She's going out with Carter, if you didn't know. That would be why she doesn't come back so quick."  
  
Lily sat back near the fire, and resumed her stretching. "She never told me," Lily said with a shrug.  
  
"What're you doing?" James asked, after watching her for a few minutes.  
  
"Stretching."  
  
"Yeah, I can see that. Why? Do I not keep you fit enough?" with a grin. Lily shuddered.  
  
"Your training's just fine, Coach."  
  
"Then, why?"  
  
"My ankles get stiff. Too cold."  
  
James frowned. "Cold?"  
  
Lily gestured outside, where the snow was still flurrying.  
  
"Why'd you come here then? Didn't you know it's in the mountains?"  
  
"I was desperate," Lily said frankly, with a little smile. "No team that had openings was willing to take me for an indefinite amount of time."  
  
"What?" he asked startled. She looked up at him a little confused.  
  
"Yeah, I can't play Quidditch forever. My parents won't let me."  
  
"To hell with your parents, you've got to stay!"  
  
"James!" she cried angrily.  
  
"I'm serious. I can't let you go, we're a great team with you." She scowled and he crossed his arms, smirking a little.  
  
"You'd better get used to the cold; you're staying with us, kid." 


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I'm really sorry if you reviewed and your review doesn't show up. I accidentally deleted the story and had to put it up again...I did get your reviews and please review again!  
  
Disclaimer: The following was not written in an attempt to plagiarise the works of J.K. Rowling.  
  
Ch. 3  
  
Lily thought her life was just about perfect when an owl arrived from her parents.  
  
The weather was so bad up in the mountains, they only kept eagles, but Lily, who thought that her parents, who had taken only reluctantly to using owl post, would freak out if a full-grown eagle landed in their living room, only used them to mail her brother.  
  
The letter, which had reduced Lily to angry tears, was a simple request to come home at the end of the month; her NEWTS would be here and then her parents wanted her to start looking for a job, while the Auror training department considered her application.  
  
Darcy was quite shocked when Lily told her. They eagerly discussed what Lily could possibly say in reply that might convince her parents that staying was a good idea too.  
  
"I wouldn't get my hopes up," Lily said gloomily, one day in practice, when they were all doing sit-ups. Then catching James' eye on her, she shut up, mouthing, "Later," at Darcy, who nodded.  
  
After the warm-up, the entire team sat inside the training building to hear what James had to say about the upcoming state-level competitions. Lily tuned out halfway through; it wasn't as though what James was saying wasn't interesting, she just couldn't help thinking that she probably wouldn't be here for the finals.  
  
She turned to Darcy, who offered a sympathetic smile, but said nothing. Lily sighed. James heard her and scowled.  
  
"Evans!" he barked. She looked up, startled. "Have you heard a word of what I've just been saying? Five rounds."  
  
It was Lily's turn to scowl; it was cold outside and running never warmed her up enough. She frowned and watched as the rest of the team filed out. She had trained with James enough to know the unspoken command that followed any remonstrances: five rounds and stay behind a minute.  
  
She looked up wearily as James grabbed his own broom and walked over to her, a stern expression on his face. "It's not all right to just sit there and completely ignore everything I say, Evans."  
  
She looked up at him, a retort springing to her lips, but instead looked back down, frowning.  
  
"What?" he asked, a slightly amused note in his voice. Lily shook her head. James always seemed to find Lily's sullen obedience extremely amusing, and even while reprimanding her, seemed to be looking for something more to come from her than the usual "Yes, coach. Sorry coach."  
  
Lily had never said anything though, and it always surprised her a little that he seemed to almost be expecting a reply. Certainly, nobody else ever spoke back to James when he was scolding them.  
  
He nodded at her and walked out. Lily scowled at his retreating back then followed him out, to run around the fields. By the time Lily was done, the rest of the team had finished with their warm-up flights and was settling in for a scrimmage.  
  
James grinned at her as she flew up to where the rest of the team was already playing. "I released the Snitch ten minutes ago. Good luck, Evans," he said and she could have sworn he was smirking.  
  
She scowled in response and flew off, James's laughter echoing in her ears. This was just his subtle way of telling her that he was a better Seeker than she was. She knew James had never gotten over being relegated to Chaser, and though nobody even attempted to compare them, she knew she was the tiniest bit better.  
  
So he got back at her with small things like this, or by 'accidentally' finding the Snitch first. At such times, Lily thought he acted not like a coach, but more like a jealous two-year-old.  
  
After about ten minutes of fruitless searching, she glanced over at James, to see if he was enjoying her failure. Her eyes widened as she spotted the Snitch loosely clasped in his fingers.  
  
Lily zoomed over and braked in front of him so hard that he unconsciously leaned back.  
  
"James Potter, why the hell do you have the Snitch in your hand?" she yelled.  
  
The whole team turned around to look at her. James seemed only amused by her anger.  
  
"You're not the Seeker, you're just a Chaser-," she spat out the last word as though it were a disgraceful thing, "-you shouldn't even be looking for the snitch anyway, if you can't stop acting like a two-year old instead of a TWENTY-two year old, I swear-"  
  
"Evans, I didn't even release it yet," James broke in smoothly, though his eyes were wide with surprise at Lily's reference to his age, something she never did.  
  
The entire team knew that James hated to be reminded that he was already 22, and that he still didn't have a proper career, but James had not known that Lily even knew his age.  
  
Lily glared at him. She reached across and grabbed his hand, then pried the Snitch out of it, turned around and let it go, watching as it flew off towards the posts then disappeared.  
  
She turned back to him, scowling furiously, then turned and flew straight up, as far away as she could get from that annoying James Potter.  
  
Lily didn't speak to anybody for the rest of practice. She followed any commands James had, but only said, "Yes, Coach" and "No, Coach," instead of addressing him as James as the team usually did.  
  
She had flown off into the clouds for ten minutes, and returned with her sweatshirt damp and her hair wet, but her eyes sparkling, the Snitch lazily clasped in her fingers.  
  
"Took you ten minutes?" May asked, a little more professionally than usual, as she returned the ball to its box, holding her clipboard to record the team's stats; May could never understand Lily's anger at James's innocent little teasings – she would have done anything to be in Lily's place just once.  
  
"No, two," Lily replied sweetly, aware that James, who was putting the rest of the balls away, was listening.  
  
"What were you doing up there so long then?" May asked surprised. "Flying," Lily tossed over her shoulder as she walked over to where Darcy was waiting for her.  
  
They continued on to their villa, continuing their conversation from the morning. "You don't know my parents, they're not like yours. I swear, my dad would come and get me if I didn't come home myself," Lily said shaking her head.  
  
"What, he'd carry you off or something?" a teasing voice from behind them asked. Lily ignored it and continued talking to Darcy, who shook her head at James, but smiled. She didn't really approve of James's antics when it came to the whole Seeker-Chaser issue, and definitely didn't approve of his baiting of Lily, who tended to take things seriously, but had to admit that today's episode had been rather funny.  
  
"We won't let him, will we, Morris?" James continued as well, with a grin above Lily's head at her. Darcy laughed.  
  
Lily frowned at her, then turning to James, said coolly, "If you don't mind, Coach, we're having a private conversation here."  
  
"What's so private about it? As your, uh, Coach, shouldn't I be aware if somebody's coming to abduct my...Seeker?" with a smirk, knowing that tiny pause would have infuriated Lily.  
  
"No," she said rudely, before following Darcy into their villa and slamming the door in James's face.  
  
Lily took a warm shower, then slipped into a green sweater and jeans, her wet hair spilling in waves down her back. She walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, rummaging for something to eat, when a voice behind her made her drop the cheese she was holding. She turned around and glared at James, who was leaning in the doorway, watching her.  
  
He couldn't understand why she was still mad, he'd only said that Kurt had made lunch for everybody. He frowned a little; she was completely ignoring him as she made herself a sandwich. She took a bite then got up to pour herself a glass of milk. When she sat back down, James had gone. She smiled in relief.  
  
* * *  
  
Lily sat in front of the fire, a few days later, stretching, listening to some gossip Darcy was telling her, though most of it went right over her head. She was nearly falling asleep when a smiling voice jerked her out of her stupor.  
  
"I wouldn't waste your time; she's nearly asleep." Lily opened her eyes tiredly.  
  
Somebody with dark hair and grey- no hazel eyes was smiling at her. James.  
  
Lily rubbed her eyes and shook her head. "Am not," she murmured. James grinned. She closed her eyes a little, instantly falling into a light sleep.  
  
James shook his head amusedly at her, then at Darcy's disappointed expression. "I'm going to see what Carter's doing then," she said, and ran out.  
  
James picked Lily up and tucked her into bed before heading home himself. 


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: NP, this is for you. I'm tired but, here you are anyway ;).  
  
Disclaimer: This applies to the rest of this fic. I do not intentionally use J. K. R.'s characters...they're just too tempting.  
  
Ch. 4  
  
The next day, it snowed. It was nearly a full-fledged blizzard. Lily moped around, bored and tired of the constant snow. She hated going outside when it snowed, yet Darcy loved it and had already deserted her to go over to Carter's.  
  
She dragged her feet to the door as a loud knock sounded. She opened it and sighed. James was standing there, covered in snow, but grinning.  
  
"You have to come out, Evans...Lily. It's great out here." Her eyes widened and she shook her head no, and started to push the door closed, but James stuck a foot inside.  
  
"James," Lily said tiredly. "Go away."  
  
"Oh, so it's back to James now, is it?" he asked smiling. "No more 'Coach'?"  
  
She frowned a little. It was hard to be mad when the snow poured down like this. She gave up trying to close the door and turned around to sit back on the rug, leaving James standing in the door.  
  
"Oh, no you don't. You're not staying inside when it's so nice out."  
  
He marched over, grabbed her arm and pulled her to the closet. He threw it open and pulled out her jacket, helped her put it on, then dragged her out the door.  
  
Lily shivered a little and pulled on her gloves. She squinted up at the sky. It was white and the snow fell thick and heavy. A few feet down she could hear the shouts and screams as the team threw snowballs at each other.  
  
She shook herself and ran over to where Darcy was digging a fort, and began helping her.  
  
A few minutes later, a piece of snow came flying over, smacking her in the face. She screamed and looked up to find James grinning at her from a distance.  
  
"I suppose THAT'S why you're playing Chaser," she shouted, throwing a handful of snow back. Soon there was a full-fledged snowball fight going on, though Lily and James seemed to be doing the most throwing.  
  
James, for some reason, had decided to target only Lily and she often found herself having to duck as a snow missile hurtled towards her.  
  
When they were finally exhausted they went back into the lodge to take off their jackets and dry off.  
  
Lily was smiling; she had never had this much fun in the snow since...she pushed the thought out of her mind, and turned to laugh at something Darcy was saying.  
  
A warm hand on her cheek made her look up, surprised. James was standing there.  
  
"Does that hurt?" he asked a little anxiously. She shot him a puzzled look. He waved over a mirror and showed her the dark red mark the size of a fist on her cheek, probably from the first snowball James had thrown at her. She shrugged and turned back to Darcy, barely noticing that James was still standing there, staring at her.  
  
* * *  
  
James trained the team harder than ever with the regional championships fast approaching. When they had a month left, he drew up an exhausting schedule that involved extra hours of stretches, runs and warm-ups in addition to the daily four-hour long practices.  
  
Lily thought she had never been so tired as she felt at the end of each practice, dragging her feet back to the villa to fall asleep for an hour before even getting the energy to take a shower.  
  
She rarely found it hard to sleep NOW and for that Lily could only be grateful. Indeed, as her body became more used to the tiring days, she relished the overtime James sometimes made them do, something that neither Darcy nor James had failed to notice.  
  
It was a common thing for their scrimmages to go on until after their time was up, for James to announce a fifteen-minute overtime, for the entire team to groan and complain.  
  
At such times, James would smile and turn to Lily and ask with an innocent expression on his face, "What about you, Evans? Tired, yet?" at which Lily would shrug and James, taking that as a no, would continue.  
  
After the same thing happened twice, Lily took to nodding tiredly instead, finding it much safer and not a difficult thing at all, as she was already weary by the end, though she never really seemed to mean it as much as the others.  
  
* * *  
  
They were at one such practice. The darkness, which fell around four was fast falling, and when James announced a fifteen-minute overtime, the entire team, followed by a reluctant Lily, flew to the ground, and refused to climb back on their brooms.  
  
In truth, they were completely justified as this was James's third such announcement that day. James frowned as complaints flew at him from all directions.  
  
"But, Evans doesn't-" he started to protest, glancing at her.  
  
Lily's eyes widened and she threw in, "No, I'm tired too," a little scared of what Darcy would do to her if she extended practice even more. James threw her a disappointed smile then held up his hands in surrender.  
  
"All right, all right. Get going," he pretended to snap, and the entire team cheered, then clapping James on the back or smiling happily at him, they walked back to their villas.  
  
Lily was just walking over to where Darcy was waiting when James called, "I didn't say YOU could go, Evans." Lily turned back around, surprised.  
  
James waved Darcy on, then sauntered over to where Lily stood, the Snitch fluttering in his fingers. He didn't even have an eye on it, he seemed to know instinctively where it was.  
  
"You're not tired, are you Evans?" he asked with an innocent smile. Lily shook her head, half an eye on the Snitch that James was barely looking at. She had an idea of what might be coming.  
  
"All right then, play with me."  
  
"What?"  
  
"We'll see who gets the Snitch first."  
  
"James, no."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
She scowled but said nothing.  
  
"If you're...leaving, then I need practice, don't I?" he asked casually, though Lily thought James was actually serious.  
  
"I-"  
  
"Are you just afraid I'll beat you?" he taunted quietly.  
  
Lily's eyes widened furiously. "No!"  
  
"Then, play," he ordered.  
  
"Fine," she muttered sulkily.  
  
James let go of the Snitch then they both closed their eyes for ten seconds, opening them at the same time to jump on their brooms and fly off.  
  
Lily searched around hurriedly. She wanted to finish this fast and she wanted to beat James. If she got the Snitch before him, maybe he'd stop acting so jealous. She glanced over at James, who was also flying around, his eyes keen and searching.  
  
Lily flew low to the ground, looking left and right, then almost stopped as she heard a slight flutter near her ear. She glanced up to see the Snitch flying a little above her head, and smiling, reached up to catch it, barely noticing James flying straight at her.  
  
Her fingers closed around the Snitch then she felt a hard hand close around hers, and looked up to see James scowling at her, neither noticing their brooms entangle.  
  
Suddenly, Lily went flying, landing heavily on the ground, several feet below. James landed almost on top of her and she screamed before darkness closed in. 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Reviews are always welcome :)!  
  
Ch. 5  
  
Lily opened her eyes groggily a minute later, groaning. A face was floating near hers, the warm hazel eyes anxious.  
  
"Lily? Lily? Are you all right? Evans!" he shouted and she winced. She could feel the Snitch still beating its wings against her hand, could also feel a suffocating grip on the same hand.  
  
She sat up slowly and looked at her hand, groaning again at the sight of the large purple bruises around the back. Her fingers felt like they were broken as did her ribs.  
  
She brushed some snow out of her hair, for once thankful that there was snow on the ground for it had provided her a soft blanket.  
  
"Are you all right?" James asked worriedly and she turned around to look at him. "I'm so sorry..." he gave her a hand as she stood up slowly, then tested her ankles.  
  
The right one felt heavy, and hurt. She was aching all over and had a huge headache, too. She swayed a little, and heard James say something, though she couldn't understand what.  
  
She stood for another few seconds before fainting again. James jumped forward and caught her then carried her back to the villa.  
  
"What happened to her?" Darcy cried, then helped James lay her on the floor in front of the fire. She grabbed her wand then pointing it at Lily, muttered, "Enervate." Lily groaned and muttered something. James leaned closer to hear.  
  
"What? What did you say?"  
  
"Chase-I-don't leave."  
  
James shrugged a little.  
  
"Something about her brother, I think."  
  
Darcy nodded. "I can heal her," she told him.  
  
James got up reluctantly. He wanted to make sure she would be all right. "Come get me as soon as you're done, ok?" She nodded then closed the door behind him.  
  
Ten minutes later, James put on his glasses and ran to open the door as a loud knock sounded. Darcy stood there, frowning a little. "She's all right, but I can't do anything about the bruises. Can you?"  
  
James shook his head. "Can't be healed magically."  
  
"Oh. Well, you can see her now." James grabbed a jacket then followed Darcy back to her villa, wishing he had combed his hair after he'd showered.  
  
Lily was lying on the couch, staring at the fire. The Snitch was flying around the room, buzzing here and there. James walked in and knelt down by the couch.  
  
Lily jumped then settled back down wincing.  
  
"Hey, are you all right?" he asked apologetically.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
James nodded and moved a little back, then his eyes fell on her bruised hand and he winced.  
  
"Your hand..."  
  
Lily looked at it. "I won, you know," she said matter-of-factly. "Then you got jealous and tried to kill me," she added.  
  
James jerked his gaze away from her hurt hand to look at her face, startled and guilty, then saw that she was smiling.  
  
"Are you mad at me?"  
  
"Only for making me stay over...for something that was obvious." She smiled at him.  
  
James scowled. "Was not, you were just lucky."  
  
"Oh, give up, I'm better than you. Admit it."  
  
"No, you're not."  
  
"Am too."  
  
"Are not." Lily scowled. "Go 'way and I can't come to practice tomorrow."  
  
James grinned. "Yeah, right. Can't get off that easily."  
  
"Can't come."  
  
"Can too."  
  
"Can not."  
  
"Can too."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
James raised an eyebrow at her in mock-surprise. "Give up, Evans. You can't argue me down."  
  
"Can too."  
  
"Can not."  
  
"Can-" she stopped and sighed. "Just go away."  
  
James frowned at her sudden mood change. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"No, tell me."  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"No, and leave me alone."  
  
"Yes, and I won't 'til you tell me."  
  
She scowled and swung her legs off the couch, then stood up unsteadily. "Where're you going?"  
  
"To take a shower," with a little grimace. "I smell horrible."  
  
"No, you don't." He leaned over and sniffed her hair. "You smell like a rose."  
  
She shook her head and took a few small steps towards the bathroom. James put an arm around her waist to help her. She winced and he instantly removed his hand guiltily, instead holding her unhurt hand as he helped her to the bathroom.  
  
"Need any help?" he whispered as she grimaced and reached up to pull her hair tie off. She turned and scowled at him.  
  
"No, I was just going to call Darcy," he said, grinning. She shook her head then closed the door.  
  
James was still there when she came out, twenty minutes later. He was reading something in the living room and didn't look up as she walked into the kitchen.  
  
She sat down at the table, then reached slowly across for the thin towel that hung over the back of the chair next to hers. Tiredly, she started to dry her hair, barely able to move her arms.  
  
A few minutes later, a pair of hands took over.  
  
"Thanks, Darce," she murmured and was surprised to hear a deep voice answering. "Not Darcy."  
  
She pulled her hair out of his hands and turned around to look at him. "Where is she then?"  
  
James smiled. "Carter's."  
  
Lily frowned. "She's always there."  
  
"And I'm always here."  
  
"What, no you're not."  
  
"Here more than anywhere else other than my own house."  
  
She shrugged. "So?"  
  
"So, nothing," he said, starting to dry her hair again. Again, she pulled away.  
  
"You don't have to."  
  
"I don't mind."  
  
"I don't want you to."  
  
"I want to."  
  
"I-"  
  
"Evans, shut up." Lily gave up and reached over to eat the sandwich that was sitting on the table.  
  
"At least she made me this before she left," Lily muttered.  
  
"No, I made that."  
  
"What?" Lily asked, more surprised that Darcy had not made her a lunch before leaving than that James had made it.  
  
"Why didn't-"  
  
"'Cause I told her I'd make it."  
  
"Oh." James dropped the wet towel onto the back of the chair then sat back down. Lily sat silently after she finished eating, staring at the kitchen table. Suddenly she jumped up.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I have to-" James jumped up and grabbed her hands. "Where're you going? What's the rush?"  
  
Lily pulled her hands away from his and hurried past him into her bedroom. She grabbed a piece of parchment, a quill and an ink well, then sat down at the desk stashed inside the crowded room. 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Good questions. First of all, I completely forgot that Quidditch was a flying sport when I wrote this; it WAS based off of Bend it Like Beckham but now it's completely morphed...;) Secondly, why would he dry her hair with magic if he can use his hands...it's more romantic. I know it's slow, sorry. And sorry, no more of Lily's friend; that little bit was mainly to get me started ;) Will James's * friend * make up for that...;)? But that's later.  
  
Ch. 6  
  
"Who're you writing to NOW?" James asked, leaning against the doorway.  
  
"My brother," Lily muttered, as she frantically added a few lines then signed it.  
  
"That was a short letter," James commented.  
  
Lily glared at him. "I was finishing it," she snapped then pushed past him to the living room, ignoring the pain that shot through her shoulder as she did so. She ran to the door then opening it, whistled lightly.  
  
Instantly, a red-feathered bird flew straight at her. She jumped out of the way and let it land on the rug, shaking snow off its wings. She stroked its head, then handed it the scroll.  
  
"To Chase and as fast as you can. You know how he is." The great bird dipped its head, its bright yellow eye fierce and glaring. She ran a hand down its back, patting its feathers the right way, then stood up. The bird took off, the scroll clutched in its beak. Lily reached for her wand to clear away the snowy mess.  
  
"What was that all about?" an amused voice asked from behind her. Lily dropped onto the couch.  
  
"Forgot to send my letter. I usually send it right after practice."  
  
"What's the rush? Is Chase going to eat you if you send him a letter half an hour late?"  
  
To his surprise, Lily shook her head seriously. "You don't know him. He's got a fearful temper and I'm the only one in my family who he's even keeping in touch with. I can't fail too."  
  
"Fail? What happened to him?"  
  
"He-he ran away...he hates my parents...he only puts up with me because I'm different from my sister or my parents."  
  
"You're a witch," James said, not understanding.  
  
"No, even before I left for Hogwarts, we were closer than I was with my other sister."  
  
She fell silent, staring at the rug unseeingly. Unknowingly a tear slipped down her cheek. James raised an eyebrow but was surprisingly silent.  
  
"You have to sleep now," he said abruptly, a few minutes later.  
  
Lily looked up, startled. "What? Now?"  
  
"Yeah, you ate, now go to sleep." Lily shrugged but stood up and walked into the bedroom.  
  
"See you at practice tomorrow," James added after he had helped her into bed, then shook his head. Lily was already asleep.  
  
* * *  
  
The next morning, Lily slept until ten. Five minutes before practice, Darcy ran in and shook her, but Lily turned away, still sleeping.  
  
James ran in a few minutes later, and shook Lily's shoulder roughly.  
  
"Get UP, Evans!" he said sharply. "It's time for practice. Let's go, NOW!"  
  
Lily opened her eyes tiredly. "Do I have to come?" she muttered.  
  
Darcy rushed in and held a hand to Lily's face. "She's burning hot."  
  
James put a cool hand on her forehead. "Fine, stay here," he called over his shoulder as he ran out again.  
  
Lily had some sort of pneumonia, but with May's help, was able to resume flying after five days. The team cheered as she joined them at the field after warm-ups, James having allowed her to skip them.  
  
"Just stop if it's too much," James told her, not liking her pale cheeks and tired eyes. But the moment Lily was up in the air, she felt completely alright; the bright color returned to her cheeks and her eyes glowed. She felt like she could fly forever.  
  
Then James released the Snitch and she was searching keenly, glancing everywhere, finally able to spot the golden winged ball after a few minutes. It was hovering near James's head and James, shouting to the other chasers, had not noticed. She sped towards it, hoping he'd get out of the way.  
  
He didn't. She swerved and just missed him, then reached up and captured the Snitch. James turned around and smiled, his face less than two inches away from hers.  
  
"Four minutes, Evans. Not bad." She smiled happily then leaned past James to smile at Darcy, who had cheered.  
  
"As excited as I am, Evans, I wouldn't do that if I were you," James remarked with a dry smile as Lily leaned precariously off the edge of her broom, inches away from the tail end of James's.  
  
She glanced back over her shoulder at him, then quickly sat up straight on her broom, and carefully maneuvered her broom around James. She definitely didn't want to fall again.  
  
Lily looked up and smiled at James again as she passed him, and suddenly, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. She looked up at him, surprised but still smiling.  
  
It was good to know that James was as happy as she was to have played so well, she thought as she flew off. 


	7. Chapter 7

Ch. 7 

The week of the championships finally arrived. The team flew together to London, for good luck, then took a Portkey from Diagon Alley to the English countryside where the competition was to be held. A total of fourteen district teams attended, and each team played six games, in each of the two divisions, until the finals took place, at the end of the week, between the winner of each division. (A/N: Does that work out? Math's _not _my strength.)

Lily thought she had never been so nervous in her life before, even including the times when she'd taken her OWLs and NEWTs. Not only was the championship single elimination, but Lily also had the added stress of what James would say if she failed to catch the Snitch before the other team's Seeker did. 

Lily was still surprised that she was even going to the championships, and she had James to thank for that. James had, after watching her anxiously biting her quill and crumpling up her parchment for half an hour, while trying to think of how to write her parents that she was staying a week longer than they wanted (because James had flatly refused to let her leave before the championships were over) taken the task over himself, and written a polite but firm letter to Lily's parents, telling them that Lily could not possibly leave before the championships, taking care to add that Lily was a great addition to their team. 

The team arrived at the lodge where they would be staying the night before the championship. Lily shivered as she looked around the posh lobby, and took in the unnerving stares of the other teams. She turned pale and felt like throwing up, until she saw the cool arrogant attitude James had, and which the rest of the team seemed to have, in part. 

"We won last time, we're the pros here," he whispered with a grin. Lily nodded and felt a little better. 

The team was sitting in their lounge that evening, waiting for the six o'clock team gathering to begin. Lily felt her nervousness returning; despite the fact that she was prettily and stylishly dressed, she felt as though everybody would be staring at her, the outsider. She told Darcy some of her fears, and met with nothing but a heartless laugh. 

"You, an outsider?" 

"But I'm new." 

"Nobody knows that. They'll just assume you're great if the Flying Fireballs took you on, and just worship from a distance." Lily couldn't help laughing at that; why would anyone worship _her_?

James was just outlining the schedule they would be following, when Lily, who once again, wasn't listening, broke in, "Where are we?" 

James broke off and glared at her. "Just because you're wearing a dress doesn't mean I can't make you run rounds, Evans!" he barked. 

Lily smiled unapologetically. "Sorry, but really, where in England are we?" 

"A few thousand miles out from London," Kurt said. 

Lily's eyes widened and she smiled. "Seriously, only a few thousand? How much, exactly?" 

James frowned. "Why d'you want to know?" he asked impatiently. Lily ignored the question; Kurt's reply made her smile wider. 

"I can visit my brother then!" 

James shot her an irritated look. "And _when_ would you be visiting your _brother_, miss? In the middle of a game?" 

Lily blinked at his tone, then raised an eyebrow and said, "After, of course." James nodded, though his gaze was still stern, then immediately launched back into his lecture on their schedule. 

All too soon, in Lily's opinion, it was time to go. The team walked out of their lounge and into the team gathering room. Lily thought she would faint as she heard a babble of voices from through the closed doors: there were already people in there and they would have to make an entrance. She smiled nervously at Darcy then scowled as James smirked, noticing her extreme nervousness. 

"Not scared of just the players, are we, Evans? Because then, I have to wonder what you'd do when faced with their game? Don't worry, I'll introduce all the Seekers to you and maybe they'll take pity on a pretty little thing like you and let you catch the Snitch first," he delivered with a smirk in his soft Irish voice. 

Lily glared at him. "Shut it, Potter," she began then as the door opened stopped abruptly. 

"What were you saying?" James asked nonchalantly, not even caring about the many pairs of eyes suddenly on them. He offered her his arm as though to continue the conversation, but Lily took a step back with a strong negative. James scowled and taking a step forward, grabbed her arm, slipped his through it and walked out into the room, to tumultuous applause from the others. 

The moment they entered, they were engulfed by other players who all wanted to welcome them, reminisce about old times or make challenges about the new. Lily sighed a little with relief; nobody was staring at her. Somebody approached James as soon as he had walked in, and Lily pulled her arm away and turned back to Darcy and Kurt as James laughed but answered the other player's friendly inquiries. 

Lily was finally starting to feel comfortable with the crowd of jolly, good-natured Quidditch players Darcy seemed to know well, all from a team called the Death-Defying Dragons. Though as a cute green-haired boy assured her, "We're were no more like dragons than lambs." 

Lily laughed and asked him about his hair.

 "We're from the Irish countryside, so green, there you go." 

Apparently, he played Seeker, but he told her with a charming smile that he would be a gentleman and let her have the Snitch. James heard the last and grinned, expecting an angry reply, but was surprised when Lily merely laughed and said that she was sorry but she wouldn't do the same for him. 

James frowned, so only he got such treatment, did he? But a pretty blonde blue-eyed girl approached him with a laugh, distracting him. James smiled at her, but unlike last year, when he had actually dated her for the short time that he been with her, he didn't feel any inclination to now. 

Not that she felt like that. Katie still seemed to regard him as an old flame; she giggled at him, took his arm and smiled up into his eyes, bumping into Lily (though she didn't bother to apologize). Lily raised her eyebrows at James over her head, and at James's sheepish grin, a teasing smirk appeared on her face before she turned back to the green-haired boy. 

***

By the time the night was over, Lily had met all the other Seekers, all women, with the exception of the green-haired boy Martin, and quite a few of the other players. She had quickly fit into Darcy's set and had also met quite a few of the other men, not by much choice on her part. 

James, who had kept an eye on her, couldn't stop grinning at the attention Lily was unconsciously attracting, although he was not much worse, with the women. Lily was actually sorry when the evening was over, and she would have to consider the other players as rivals. 

The team headed back to their rooms, a few hours later, all talking excitedly. They reached the lounge and Lily reached up to remove the clip from her hair. 

"Ok, team. Sleep well, and don't be nervous. We're still the best team around," James told them before shooing them off to their rooms. 


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: NS, I think you  misunderstood (or I mistyped.) What I meant was that James used to play Seeker before he injured his knee…then, somebody dropped out and he was looking for a new Chaser, but since Lily's a Seeker, he was forced to take the role of Chaser. He was in full physical condition to, just was waiting for an opportunity, I guess. 

NP: I know most people say James was a Seeker but I have pretty good authority that he wasn't, that he was Chaser. Only the movie makes it very clear that he Seek-ed but I don't trust that ;)…who cares what he is, so long he plays ;)…

Ch. 7

The next morning, Lily could hardly eat any breakfast. Darcy coaxed and pleaded with her, and finally threatened to hex her if she didn't eat, at which James was forced to come over and prevent Darcy from hexing his Seeker's hands off. 

"Seriously, Evans, you've got to eat _something_," he said, frowning. 

The rest of the team was calmly shoveling down food, eagerly trying all the dishes that they didn't get on an everyday basis, but Lily felt the very sight of it made her nauseous. She stood up crossly, scowling at Darcy and James. 

"I'm not hungry, I'm not eating." 

James grabbed her hand and pulled her down into a seat, then began piling up food on a plate. 

"Eat _all_ of that, otherwise you're not playing." 

Lily scowled, and crossed her arms. "You can't play without me. Who'd be your Seeker?" 

"I would," James said with an easy smile. 

Lily glared at him. "Can't you _ever_ stop?" 

"No. Eat." He gestured to the full plate.

Lily frowned but picked up her fork distastefully and tried to force down a few bites before looking at James hopefully. James shook his head. "All of it." 

"Damn it, James, I don't eat this much even on normal days!" 

"Insubordination, Evans?" James asked with a grin. 

"Shut up, COACH." 

James smiled again then turned back to where he and Kurt were talking about somebody they'd seen the day before. Lily ate some more and unconsciously listened. Suddenly she dropped her fork. James turned around to look at her impatiently. 

"What _now_, Evans?" he snapped.

"Who WAS that girl, last night?" she asked with a smirk. Kurt laughed and reached around James to give her a high-five. 

James scowled at them. 

"_What_ girl?" he asked casually, a little TOO casually. Lily and Kurt burst out laughing. 

"Ah, poor Potter, too popular for his own good, is he?" Kurt asked, still chortling. 

"Yeah, bet he wishes he were about ten times less good-looking now, doesn't he?" Lily asked with a smirk. 

James grinned. "No. And you think I'm handsome, do you, Evans?" 

Lily laughed. "Do you really want the answer to that?" she asked, grinning over at Darcy. 

James scowled at her and jumped up to call the rest of the team. 

They filed out onto the field after a brief pep talk from James, who seemed, in Lily's opinion, overly confident. 

"We've beat them _every_ time we've played them, EVERY time, Evans," he repeated, looking over at her. 

Lily looked up and nodded tersely, feeling as though her force-fed breakfast was going to come right back up. Darcy gave her a reassuring smile then they walked out and mounted their brooms, rising up into the air as soon as the whistle blew. 

Lily barely heard any of the commentary, past the announcement of the names, "Potter, Dayton, Randal, Von Bulow, Philips, Morris, and Evans!" 

She was frantically scanning the other team's lineup, not recognizing any familiar faces. That would make things much easier. She flew all around the field, her eyes scanning up and down and from side to side for any flutter of gold. The other Seeker was a little too interested in the Chasers tossing around the Quaffle and was barely looking for the Snitch. 

Lily smiled but reminded herself not to let her guard down. She ran her gaze through the crowd for a brief second, her eyes locking with a man sitting alone, his piercing gray eyes cold and hostile. 

She gasped in surprise and then saw it: the Snitch was fluttering right inside the right goal post, directly in front of the gray-eyed man. She was much closer than the other Seeker, who was at the other end of the field, and shot off towards it. 

James, who had the Quaffle, spied Lily racing towards the opponent's goal posts and instead of trying to throw when she was there, passed to Darcy. Lily weaved past the astonished Keeper then wrapped her fingers securely around the flying Golden Snitch, a roaring triumph pounding in her ears. 

She was instantly engulfed by the entire team amidst cheers and shouts from the crowd. Everybody was screaming her name and Lily thought it was the proudest moment of her life – her five minute capture of the Snitch. 

She let go of Darcy for a second then glanced back over where the lone man had sat; the seat was empty.

* * *

They had a celebration once they had reached their lounge. Lily couldn't stop smiling and the rest of the team kept shaking her hand, kissing her cheek and patting her back. 

James refused to let anybody drink, though as Darcy teased him, and as he furiously denied, red-faced, he wanted a drink more than anybody else there. 

"James is a bit of an alcoholic," Darcy laughed. 

Lily's eyes widened, naively. 

"Aw, stop being so serious, Evans. She's kidding," James snapped, glaring at Darcy, angry for the very reason that he knew she spoke the truth. Lily shook her head; she didn't really care anyhow. 

She suddenly remembered the face she had seen, seen right before she had spotted the Snitch. She hoped it was who she thought it was, and sucked in her breath in delight at the thought that it might be. 

"What's with you?" James asked, sitting next to her, clenching his fist slightly, trying to stop desperately wishing he had a fire-whiskey in his hand. Lily turned to him, her eyes shining. 

"Where is everybody else staying?" 

"Who else?" 

"The crowd, the people who were watching…" 

"I don't know. Some of them might be here, I guess." 

Lily jumped up. 

"Where are you going?" he called, then observing the rest of the team busy talking and joking, slipped out after her. There was a chance he could slip off for a drink. 

* * *

Lily headed down to the lobby, turning up the hood of her sweatshirt, realizing that her vivid hair made her instantly recognizable as the Seeker that had made the spectacular catch that day. 

She walked over to the counter and smiling at the man sitting behind it, asked if anybody with the last name, Evans, was checked in. She was just waiting when James walked up behind her, a fire-whiskey clutched in his hand. 

Lily raised an eyebrow at him, and thought for once Darcy's gossip might actually be true. She wondered for half a second what could possibly be other than perfect in James's life that made him need to drink so, then as the man confirmed that there was a C. Evans checked in, she forgot all about it. 

"Really, could you tell me what room?" When the man frowned slightly, she continued, "I'm his sister. L.Evans but I'm probably checked in with the Flying Fireballs." 

The man's eyes widened. "L. Evans? As in LILY Evans?" Lily raised an eyebrow, did everybody know her first name now?, but nodded. "Well. That's certainly different then. He's in room 99, and may I add that I was watching your game today and it was just superb." 

Turning to James as she left, he said with a wide smile, "You have quite a find there, Mr. Potter." James grinned and nodded then followed Lily out of the room. 

Lily was just waiting for the lift when James strolled up to her. "Do you know that man thinks you're 'quite a find'?" he asked with a grin. "Shame you have to leave." 

Lily nodded but said nothing, shifting from foot to foot as she waited impatiently for the lift. 

"Why're you so impatient?" 

"He's actually _here_," she said turning to him, her eyes sparkling. "I mean, he loves Quidditch but this is too much." 

When the door opened, she turned to James. "You'd better finish that before you go back up," she told him, before pressing the button for the ninth floor. 

To her surprise, he stepped in after her. "Where else could I go?" he asked shrugging. 

Lily rolled her eyes but said nothing. 


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Please note that updates will be rather rare now, what with exams and all. Also, I GUESS _Seeking_ is a priority since nobody else is READING_Shadows and Dreams_!!! Sirius-ly, _do_ check it out. ;)

Also, for a real Bend it Like Beckham/L/J fic, check _Pitch it Like Pendragon _by **Lily Itriwi**. It's good. 

By the way, if James's problems offend you, please don't stop reading. Lily _will_ fix him in the end :)!!

Ch. 9

Once they had reached the ninth floor, Lily hurried out then down the hallway, stopping in front of the door labeled 99. She took a deep breath then knocked. 

A moment later, the door flew open, revealing a tall, grey-eyed man with a stern expression and red hair. James watched interestedly as the man's expression changed from annoyed to shocked to jubilant and Lily stepped in to give him a hug. 

"Lily Evans, what the hell are you doing here?" Chase Evans asked after a minute. Lily laughed and pointed to her sweatshirt. 

His eyes widened. 

"Damn, you play for the FLYING FIREBALLS?" he asked jealously, and Lily laughed again. 

"Who's this?" he asked suddenly, looking at James, who was smiling at them. 

"Our coach. James Potter." 

Chase's eyes widened but he said nothing, only shook James's hand politely. "Come in," he invited them. 

Lily followed him immediately but James hesitated. He would just be interfering. Lily was already happily chattering to Chase, who looked up after a few minutes and seeing James still standing outside the door uncertainly, waved him in. 

James entered and sat down uncomfortably on a chair. Lily looked up at him. "James needs a place to drink his fire-whiskey in secret," she said with a grin. 

"So, is she good or what?" Chase asked James proudly.

James nodded emphatically and grinned at Lily, who was blushing. 

"Better be. I trained her," Chase said, smirking. 

"Yeah, and Petunia refused to even touch a broom," Lily remembered gleefully. Chase shook his head a little disgustedly. 

"Wait a minute, aren't you a MUGGLE?" James asked, confused. 

"Yeah. But I showed him Quidditch moves the summer of the year after I first made the school team and I made him a fanatic. He already played football [soccer] so he was real good and helped me a lot. Speaking of which, how DID you get here anyway?" 

"I tagged along with a few others," Chase said evasively and Lily laughed, recognizing her brother's usual disregard for rules. 

"You know, Lils, I'm real jealous of you lot. Any way I could come to Hogwarts instead of Oxford?" 

Lily laughed again. "I'm out of Hogwarts now," she reminded him. 

"Oh, yeah, when, last year?" 

"Two months ago," Lily admitted, laughing a little. 

"What, really? You're not even 18?" James asked incredulously. "But you can't- I mean, May was supposed to only have let you even try out if you were 20." 

"Oh, well, just as well, isn't it? If I'm not going to be allowed to play anymore?" 

"What? Why not?" Chase demanded. "You were _brilliant_ out there today, Lils!" he added. 

"Yeah, well you tell that to Mum and Dad," Lily countered angrily. 

"Uh, no. YOU tell them. YOU could always wind them around your little finger," Chase said, shaking his head, his face setting into angry lines at the mention of the parents he hated. 

"Forget it, Chase," Lily said bracingly. "Don't even _think_ about it." 

At this point, James was dying to know why both Lily and Chase seemed to hate their parents so much, but somehow he didn't think this was a good time to ask. 

There was an uncomfortable silence then James finished his fire-whiskey and stood up. 

"I have to be going back," he said uncomfortably. 

Lily jumped up as well. "I'd better be getting back too. You'll be at my game, tomorrow?" 

"Wouldn't miss it," Chase told her with a smile, though his face still looked angry. Lily kissed his forehead before standing up and following James out the door. 

"So THAT'S Chase Evans," James said the moment they had reached the lift. Lily turned around to him. 

"Look, _you_ don't tell anybody about Chase, _I_ don't tell anybody about the fire-whiskey." 

James was surprised but nodded. "But-" 

"And that goes for you as well," she said tersely before stepping out of the lift and walking off to their rooms. 

James stood there, for a minute, startled, then shook his head and followed her. 

When they walked back into the lounge, there was instantly a babble of talk. 

"Oi, Potter, where WERE you?" 

"With EVANS, ooh..." 

"Lily! I would've expected _you_ to have better taste!" 

"Yeah, and what about James?" 

"What's wrong with Lily?" (the last was Darcy, looking extremely offended.) 

Both Lily and James laughed. 

"No, no. It was nothing like that," James said, still chuckling. "Lily went to see if someone she…recognized was checked in this hotel, and I went to see where she went." 

"Were they?" 

"That couldn't have taken this long!" 

"No, they weren't and there was a long wait!" Lily cut in, her cheeks red. She took another breath then putting on a smirk, added, "And after last night, d'you all think the best place I could've been's with POTTER?" 

There were shouts and whistles and groans and "Got you there, mate!" and James pretended to scowl, before starting to laugh with the rest of them. 

It was only after they had all finally calmed down and gone to bed that James recalled the incident, a slightly embarrassed feeling in the pit of his stomach. He frowned; Evans might think herself independent and all that but that did _not_ give her the right to insult JAMES POTTER so. 


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Just a short one. NS, you better give me TWO reviews ;)

Ch. 10

Lily felt much more relaxed the second morning. She was actually able to eat a little breakfast without being threatened by either Darcy or James and didn't feel so like throwing up as she walked onto the fields.

For one, she had gone from an interesting if new face to an instant celebrity, owing to her previous day's record-breaking capture of the Snitch and she saw with satisfaction the nervousness on the face of the opposing Seeker as she timidly shook hands.

James caught her eye and smiled disdainfully at his opposite, signaling Lily to do the same. Lily scowled and smiled warmly at the little Seeker, who in turn, looked like she was on top of the world because the famous Lily Evans had smiled at her.

James then gathered his team together for a final pep talk, ending with, "And Evans, I don't care HOW nice you may think yourself, you can NOT smile at the enemy!"

Lily scowled, and the talk ended with a laugh, as usual, at Lily and James's excellent rapport.

Lily's second game passed by without too much hassle. She was able to capture the Snitch after about half an hour, and though it had taken that long, the other Seeker was nowhere near enough to make things very tense.

Once again, Lily disappeared soon after as did James. THIS time, neither of them was able to get off so easily. Lily glared at James; why did he have to leave when she did if he was just going to DRINK?

After about ten minutes of unbearable teasing, and Lily found it _quite_ unbearable to be in any way, accused of sneaking off with JAMES, though James did not really mind, Lily burst out, "Oh, shut it, all of you. If you must know, my Muggle brother is here, staying at this hotel and I go to see him. And James…well he'd better tell you himself."

James's eyes widened at Lily, and he threw her a dirty look before clearing his throat uncomfortably.

"Well, that is, I-I was…with Katie," he said desperately. Lily shot him an incredulous look, and before anybody could voice any disapproval, (the entire team had not approved of James's many tempestuous relationships, least of all the one with Katie, the giggly girl who had bumped into Lily the first night) spoke up.

"Come on, James. Why don't you tell them the _truth_?"

James felt his insides churning with anger. It was absolutely NONE of her business what he did and she had _no_ right to announce to the whole team that he was trying to hide something.

The team thought that he was getting off his addiction and now she had to come in and mess it all up. An irresistible urge to get revenge seized him and he grinned, thinking of the simplest and most annoying way to get back at Lily.

"Oh, really Evans. Why don't YOU tell them the truth? That I _was_ with _you_?" he asked with a teasing smirk.

Lily's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "WHAT?" she practically shouted. "Of COURSE you weren't James Potter, don't you DARE even TRY and get out of it like THAT!"

"Get out of WHAT?" the entire team shouted.

"Bedtime!" James shouted, but everybody ignored him.

Lily took a deep breath and throwing James the nastiest look she could summon, said simply, "He goes to drink."

James jumped up, furious (he had never _really_ believed that she actually WOULD tell) and shouted, "Damn you, Evans! Why the HELL were you even _born_ to _plague_ me!"

Lily stood up too, angry. "Oh, I wasn't BORN to bother YOU, James Potter! I, at least, have _better_ things to do with my time, I'M not 22 and still playing QUIDDITCH-"

James let out a roar of outrage and leaping forward, grabbed her by the shoulders in a vise-like grip. "SHUT UP, NOW!" he growled, shaking her slightly, a furious look on his face.

Lily looked up at him, horrified by his extreme anger, and the team, recognizing that an angry James under the influence of firewhiskey was not to be crossed, fell silent. Lily stared up at him, shocked, and seemed to not be able to find anything to say. James glared at her, still holding her by the shoulders so hard it hurt, then abruptly he let go and turned around and strode into his room and slammed the door.

The team left in a sympathetic silence, leaving a stunned Lily behind. Finally Darcy managed to convince her to come up to bed, though she couldn't ensure that Lily would actually be able to sleep.

Cliffhanger? Kind of. It'll be at least a week before an update.

I was real mad when I posted this and this chapter quite accurately sums up my feelings. Thank you James.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Mad because fanfiction.net is a piece of shit and won't put in my italics and bold…NP, NS, sorry about the language…sort of rubs off, you know?

As for James, only HE can tell you why HE'S mad…;)

Anyway, so sorry for the LONG wait…just never got around to it. Also, I'm now an author on portkey.org, so check that out if you like. Pen name's _Leslie Lalaith_ not Leslie Lady of Light, not really sure how THAT happened. Also, once again, sorry if James's problems offend you; don't really now how THAT got in, s'not even like I know people like that or anything…

Also, another L/J fic up called "When Love Met Quidditch." It's a cute little story, if I do say so myself ;). Look it up. Ok, shut up, Leslie.

Ch. 11

The next morning the team met in the lounge before heading down to breakfast as usual.

James, who seemed back to normal other than a perpetual frown, gave them the usual pep talk, though without much vim, then let them go down to eat.

Lily was just following Darcy when James, who had sank down into a chair holding his head in his hands, raised it and called, "Evans!"

Lily turned around nervously, and approached James. She stood in front of him, and stared at his feet, unable to look him in the face. She heard the last of the team leave, and knew she was entirely alone with James, a prospect that she had never minded and now feared. (A/N: D'y'all even REMEMBER what happened? I sure don't.)

"Evans, look at me," he said quietly.

Lily raised her eyes hesitantly to his face, wincing a little at his pained look.

"Are-are you all right?" she asked hoarsely.

He nodded.

"I have a killer headache but that's about it."

She nodded and swallowed, still staring at him.

"I-I'm sorry," she began but James cut her off.

"Why should YOU be sorry? It's ME that should be. I'M the one that was acting like an idiot, trying to cover up and all, and making you mad."

Lily shrugged. "I overreacted, I guess."

"Yeah, me too. And I really am sorry…" he stopped but she knew he meant for scaring her. "I HATE it when anybody mentions my age and…too much drink I guess," he said with a weak smile.

Lily nodded. "I'm sorry I did then, but James, you've really _GOT _to stop. Drinking, I mean. It's not-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know all that. But it's not easy. I thought I'd done it and then…anyway, forget it. Are you mad at me?"

"No, you?"

"No," he responded with a grin.

Lily offered a small smile in return.

"Come on, Evans, is that the best you can do?" he teased.

Lily grinned. "No, are you ready?"

"Sure."

Lily smiled happily then accepted James's arm as they walked down to breakfast together.

The third game was a nightmare.

First of all, as Lily would say, their opponent was Katie's team. Lily felt she should have EXPECTED nothing less than what happened.

The Fireballs' Chasers actually DROPPED the Quaffle a couple times, Lily missed the Snitch by an inch an hour into the game and their Beaters got a penalty for cobbing.

James called a time-out.

"Cobbing!" he shouted. "And really Carter, what's with your FINGERS today?"

He turned to Lily, who flinched before he even said anything. James noticed and after staring at her drooping head for a minute, said roughly, "Cheer up, Evans," before striding back onto the field.

They played a little better after that.

Still, just as Lily spotted the Snitch and began streaking towards it, she saw Katie doing the same, and Katie was closer. Lily cursed and was speeding up, though knowing there was no way she could reach it first, when suddenly, James appeared and moving his broom as close to Katie's as he could get it, leaned over, grabbed Katie by the shoulders and kissed her.

Lily actually stopped, then, when James, still kissing Katie, furiously signaled her on with his eyes, and as the referees frantically checked their books for a foul against KISSING, sped up again and captured the Snitch.

The moment she had done so, James pulled away but Katie, after glancing around and observing Lily with the Snitch, shrugged at her downcast team, grabbed James and kissed him again.

The entire team was cheering and yelling her name, with the exception of James, who was still being engaged by Katie, but Lily felt that that was just TOO close.

Later, they sat around in their lounge, quiet. Nobody felt like talking. Everybody and Lily especially, seemed to feel that when they were forced to use James's sex appeal to win, they were in bad shape.

Suddenly, James spoke up.

"Come on, Evans, we WON, didn't we? That's all that matters."

Lily looked up, frowning then looked away again.

"Wipe your mouth. I HATE that color," Darcy told him, tossing James a handkerchief.

James looked mystified but obediently wiped the pink lipgloss off his mouth, wrinkling his nose at the red smear on the kerchief.

"Ah, so THAT's what's bothering Evans," James said knowingly. "Mad that I kissed someone else," with the lightest emphasis on 'else.'

Nine heads swiveled around to stare at James, but Lily, who was barely listening, took almost a minute, during which the team stared at the two of them and started whispering, before she cried, "What d'you mean someone ELSE?! You make it sound as if-"

Catching the teasing glint in James's eye, she stopped.

"Oh, shut up, Potter," she said instead.

"No, but seriously, what did you think of my little –er –show?"

When Lily didn't respond he pressed, "Evans."

Lily looked up tiredly.

"What?"

James repeated his question.

Lily wrinkled her nose.

"I wouldn't have liked to be Katie," was all she said with a shrug and a smirk at James's amazed expression.

"Oh and why not? Wouldn't you like to kiss me?"

Lily grinned. "Oh, of course," she said in a honeyed voice.

James looked even more amazed. "Really?"

"No."

The entire team laughed and James scowled, his cheeks pink. "Stop being so smart, Evans. You'll get in trouble."

Lily smiled. "With YOU?"

"Yes with ME. And I was being serious."

"And I wasn't. But if you really want to know, I thought it was despicable of you."

At James's surprised expression, she continued, "You kissed her so I could get the Snitch. And unless she's your girlfriend or something, that was really low."

James blinked but said with a smile, "Yeah, well she WAS. But she ISN'T now," watching her carefully as he said it, but Lily only shrugged.

"You should apologize then James," Darcy cut in reprovingly.

"We," indicating the team, "are the ones that make all the decisions on James's relationships, you know. We didn't approve of Katie. Good you got rid of her," Carter piped up.

James scowled. "Yeah and who WOULD you have me go out with?" he asked impatiently.

"L.E.," Carter whispered, seeing that Darcy and Lily had started talking to the others.

James's eyes widened. "No way!" he positively yelled, looking over at Lily.

"Why not?"

"Just…no," James said faintly, still staring at her.

* * *

Slightly longer than usual. To make up ;). Hope you liked.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Hi y'all. Haven't quite disappeared off the face of the earth yet. Sorry to say that this is a real short chapter. Oh well. Trying to ease you all out of the PG-13 category into R. Hmm, maybe I should change the rating. We'll see.

Ch. 12

The next day's match was easy and the game ended in twenty minutes. James and Lily disappeared after as usual, but Lily came back in five minutes.

She stormed through the door and snapped, "Where's POTTER?"

Darcy shrugged. "I thought he was with YOU," she teased then as Lily scowled said seriously, "He left with you and hasn't come back yet."

Lily ran out again and sprinted up two flights of stairs to where she knew the bar was.

Bursting in, she headed straight for the stool where James was sitting, chatting with the pretty bartender; grabbing his arm, she pulled him out into the hall.

Feeling James's arm go around her waist, she stopped and pushed it off before continuing on. When they had reached an empty meeting room, she pushed him in, shut and locked the door, then turned to face him.

She froze, looking up at his gleaming eyes: he was obviously drunk.

Lily stared at him for a long moment then positively shouted, "Damn it, James Potter, why the HELL did you have to go get Drunk TODAY?"

James raised an eyebrow at her.

"Can you understand me?" Lily asked, with a visible effort to be calm.

James nodded.

"Ok, then, listen to this…" her calm tone vanished and she shouted, "Chase Left! LEFT! Because of you! 'Cause he saw you kissing KATIE yesterday and then he got this weird idea that you were looking at me _gloatingly_ and now he thinks we broke up or something, as if we were even going OUT in the first place! And he got mad at ME for even trusting you and he left and he probably hates me TOO now! And it's all your damn fault!"

She stopped, breathing heavily then muttered, "How could even _think_ I would have such bad taste?"

James's eyes widened angrily. "What's THAT supposed to mean?" he asked roughly, standing up unsteadily.

Lily looked up. "Nothing, forget it," she said shortly before running to the door and unbolting it.

She was about to leave when James's strong arm wrapped itself around her waist, pulled her back inside and locked the door.

"Evans," James said soothingly, his arm still around her waist.

"Let go, James," Lily said quietly.

"No, listen to me."

"Why should I, you're DRUNK," she said bitterly.

"I'm sorry," he offered and Lily nodded dully.

"I wish-"

"Forget it."

"No, really-"

"Just leave it, James. It's not your fault."

"But it is-" "

I said leave it and let me go," she said sharply.

James reluctantly removed his arm, relinquishing his close hold on her from which the smell of her hair had been intoxicating him (more than he already was) and watched with a frown on his face as she walked slowly out of the room

* * *

There'll be more tomorrow. I'm past caring about number of reviews – quality counts, guys! So make 'em good! :)

Oh, and I've also stopped bothering with the italics and caps thing. However it gets out is how it gets out. The sooner I get it all posted the sooner I can write new stuff, anyway.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Ah, well, two short chapters in one day ought to please you all, right? Oh and James is a cad, I know. So don't flame me too bad. Sorry if I'm corrupting the innocent, etc. ;)

Ch. 13

The game the day after was played despite the rain that poured down in torrents. Lily luckily accidentally stumbled across the Snitch twenty minutes into the game, though neither the roaring crowd nor her ecstatic team nor the awed opponents would believe it was an accident. (A/N: Sorry but I am totally _bored _of Quidditch.)

That night, James let them all drink to celebrate, as their game the next day was in the afternoon. Lily, who sat talking with Darcy and Carter, didn't drink anything.

"Come on, Evans, have a drink," James said thickly.

Lily shot him a sharp look. "No thank you."

James shrugged but continued watching her. A few minutes later, he handed her a glass filled with punch. Lily didn't even look up as she accepted it, and didn't drink it either; she was leaning forward and laughing over something Carter had said.

"Evans, drink that," James called from across the room.

Lily absently picked up the small glass, took a sip and choked.

"James Potter, what the _hell_ did you put in this?"

"Poison," James said with a charming smile.

At Lily's horrified look, he smirked and said, "No, just some of this," holding up his bottle of firewhiskey.

Lily shrieked and picked up the glass and walked towards him.

"No, don't throw it away," James said anxiously, watching the hand that held the glass.

"And why does it bother you if I throw it away, James Potter?" Lily asked with a sweet smile that James, blinking and more than a little under the influence, thought too good to be true (she wasn't mad).

"It's good whiskey," he said as though it were obvious. Lily's eyes narrowed and she continued.

"And _why_ exactly are you so eager to have me become an alcoholic like you?" with a poisonously sweet emphasis on 'alcoholic.'

James flinched. "Damn it, Evans. I am NOT."

"Yes, you are. Answer my question."

"Because, you don't know what you're missing, throwing that stuff away," James said, telling the truth for once.

Lily blinked. "You're worse off than I thought," she murmured softly so only he could hear.

"What?" Lily stared at him, thinking then smiled charmingly. "If I drink _this_," she began, indicating the glass in her hand, "YOU don't drink _that_," she finished with a sweet smile intended to throw James off, pointing at his bottle of whiskey, as though proposing a perfectly logical plan. (A/N: Confused? Me too, read it again.)

"WHAT? What kind of idea is _that_?" James asked indignantly.

"Else I'm throwing it away," Lily said with a warning smile.

James stared at her. "What is it to _you_ if I drink?" he asked angrily.

"What is it to YOU if I _don't_ drink?" she countered.

James frowned. He wanted to see what she did when she got drunk, moderately of course. It was as simple as that.

"Ok, fine, but just for tonight," he grumbled.

Lily smiled. "Ok then, here goes," she said, looking doubtfully at her full glass, and James, watching her realized suddenly that she really did not want to drink this but was doing it more for him.

"Oh, forget-" he stopped as she gulped it down then stood looking like she was going to be sick. "Aw, it was only a drop, Evans," he said bracingly and grabbing her hand, tried to pull her down next to him.

She resisted for a minute then, as he pulled again, abruptly let him, falling onto his lap. James was startled but really couldn't complain.

"Hey, Evans…Lily…are you all right?" When there was no reply, he shook her slightly, "Lily…Lils?"

Lily thought she had never felt worse in her entire life. The raw whiskey was going into her empty stomach and made it churn until she felt like throwing up and dying. She groaned; that was certainly more than a _drop_ that James had added. A hazy thought crossed her pained mind.

_I hope James sees this and decides to give up drinking_, before another, more rash thought pushed it aside. _I could handle this. If I could set this up regularly, maybe he'd stop drinking_.

The moment this thought crossed her mind, she decided it would work. Summoning her most deceptive smile and forcing herself to laugh, she looked up and looked James in the eye.

"Of course I'm all right, James Potter. You _do_ get awfully upset over nothing."

James's eyes widened a little before they narrowed and regarded her keenly.

_He thinks it's the whiskey talking_, Lily thought, _I must not be convincing enough_.

"Seriously, James. I'm fine. Just thought I'd see what happens if you thought I reacted…badly to that stuff."

She laughed, a little too loudly; it was much easier now that there was no stomach ache.

She smiled and stood up, much to James's disappointment, and walked back to where Darcy was sitting with Carter, her steps perfectly steady though she felt like falling into bed and never getting up.

* * *

I honestly have NO idea how alcoholism got caught up in this story. Though I do have a GREAT tie-in to the books, though it is a bit…unconventional you might say.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Rating's officially R, although I actually _did_ take out most of the R stuff. Oh well. Anyone that wants the "real" continuation, (except NS and NP, whatever I do, I'm _not_ polluting your innocent little minds!), put me on your favorite lists (if I'm not already there) and I'll remember to email you when those chapters get up on another site. Wow, that sounds complicated. Family ties you down so much. Ah well, on with the story.

* * *

Ch. 14

James watched Lily carefully the next morning, and as she, very luckily, felt none of the effects of the previous night, she was able to continue her act. Lily was entirely normal; she ate very little and chatted animatedly to Darcy, she teased James and laughed with Kurt.

The game was a normal one; it took nearly four hours before Lily easily looped around the other team's Chasers to pick up the Snitch. Lily, though she couldn't stop grinning, couldn't help but wish that Chase had stayed.

As they had not lost a single match, and as the final wasn't until the day after, James again broke out a pack of butterbeer. He was just reaching for a firewhiskey for himself when another hand on the bottle made him look up surprised; nobody else drank the strong stuff.

His eyes widened even more as he realized it was Lily's hand on the bottle.

"Really, Evans. You might have liked that stuff yesterday but a whole bottle's too much for you…" he said with a weak smile, looking at her petite frame.

Lily rolled her eyes. "As if I wanted the whole damn thing. No, James. I wanted to offer you the same plan as yesterday."

She stopped and watched him, hoping it would work. Now that he had seen that even when she was drunk she didn't act outrageously, and Lily was pretty sure that was why he had so wanted her to drink, would he find any benefit in it?

James looked up at her, confused.

"Why d'you- why would you- I mean, what…?" he stopped, for once other than cool and poised.

Lily shrugged and sat down next to him. "I don't really want to drink, but it kept you from drinking yesterday. I'm willing to try it again today if it has the same effect…" she blushed a little as James gave her a penetrating look.

"And what is it to you if I drink?" he asked slowly.

Lily gave him a wary glance. "I-I don't like it when people waste their lives, drinking. You've got…I mean, your life is too perfect for you to…throw it away," she finished softly, her cheeks hot, staring at the floor.

James's gaze grew soft. "You would really care, what I did with my life?" he asked wistfully, looking at her red head.

Lily looked over at him. "Of course," she said simply, and looking straight into her eyes, James understood her meaning; she did not care for him any more than she might have for Carter or Kurt, but she _did_ care for him enough, as a friend, to wish him a better life than he was creating for himself. And James was perfectly happy with that.

"Well…aw, but Lily, it's just too hard!" he burst out. Lily gave him a sympathetic glance but said nothing. "And what about when you leave? What then? Who will watch me and see that I don't drink _then_?"

Lily looked more upset about her imminent departure than she ever had before. "I don't know. But can't you try, at least when I'm here?" she pleaded.

James stared into her bright green eyes for a long moment. Then he looked away, and sighed. "I-I can't."

He fended off Lily's disappointed glance, feeling slightly defensive. She had no idea what she was so innocently asking of him.

"Damn it, Lily, it ISN'T that easy!"

"Please. Just tonight?"

James sighed, defeated. "All right," and as Lily grinned at him and got up to get a glass.

"And you don't have to drink either, if you don't want."

Lily looked uncertain. "But I promised. And if I don't hold my end of the bargain…you…would it _help_ you if I drank instead?"

James looked up at her, feeling as though his entire being was full of conflicts. He desperately wanted to drink and he wasn't going to; Lily didn't want to drink yet he wanted her to.

After a long minute, she asked softly, "James?"

He sighed again, defeated. "Yes," he whispered.

Lily turned away immediately, and James was thankful that he would not have to see her reaction, on top of everything else. (A/N: Does stuff like this _ever_ happen outside stories? Jeez Leslie…)

Lily came back with a glass of punch mixed with firewhiskey. She couldn't help shivering before she took a sip, knowing what it would do to her, but before James could do anything other than look miserable and sympathetic, she had gulped it down.

James took her hand sympathetically as she sat unhappily next to him, trying not to give in to the urge to curl up to minimize the stomach ache. On top of it all was the fact that she had to pretend that, even if she didn't like drinking, it didn't really affect her either way.

Lily looked away and wished James wouldn't stare at her so. When she couldn't handle it anymore, she jumped up and putting on a smile, half-glanced at him and said, "I'm going to talk to Darcy for a minute. I'll be right back."

Before James could say anything, she had fled to where Darcy was sitting, at the other end of the room. Thankfully, Darcy was busy kissing Carter and didn't notice Lily sink into an armchair and under cover of the back, clutch her stomach convulsively.

When she returned to James's corner five minutes later, she was completely back to normal, even a little bit more excited than usual though she tried as hard as she could to fight it.

If she had known that there was a reckless light in her eyes and that her cheeks were flushed, she wouldn't have tried so hard, knowing very well that to an experienced person like James, any action on her part would be futile in denying the signs her body was clearly giving.

James grinned as she sat down, recognizing that she was the slightest bit intoxicated. (A/N: Anybody spot the book reference? A special shout-out to whoever can tell me what book that's from.)

"Want another?" he whispered, realizing that with somebody like Lily, the mind would fight every inclination of intoxication until it was lulled asleep by even more alcohol.

Lily shook her head quickly and forced herself to smirk at James, though she was aghast at the suggestion of drinking _another_. But a James with a purpose was evidently not to be put off.

"One more. Come on, I insist," he coaxed and as she reluctantly nodded, he leaped up and made her another strong mix. Lily tried not to look at it too distastefully and looking up, saw James's eager expression and sighed.

"I hope you remember I'm not even 19, you know," she said before drinking it. James smiled as she finished it and curled up next to him, unable to tell the difference between intoxication and acute pain.

Lily managed to will away the stomachache in three minutes and still keep the secret from James, but controlling herself afterwards was a much more difficult task.

"Aw, come on Evans. You don't _have_ to try so hard, you know," James whispered persuasively.

"Try so hard…to do what?" Lily asked thickly.

It was amazing, the difference between having one and two drinks. A hidden wild side of Lily seemed to have risen up inside her and quickly taken possession of her mind. Every second, she found an absurd idea passing through her brain, only to be squashed half a second later by her mind, still mainly in control.

Lily groaned inwardly; the last person she wanted to act drunk around was James Potter. She couldn't remember James ever having acted foolishly and now she would be mercilessly teased, she supposed, for getting drunk after two light drinks (she didn't know the second drink was almost 100% firewhiskey) and for behaving stupidly.

"To stay sober, of course," James said, leaning closer, his eyes dancing wickedly. It was a very interesting thought: what would the sane, serious Lily Evans do when she was _drunk_?!

"I'm-not," Lily said with a little difficulty owing to the fact that James's face was two inches from hers. She turned away abruptly giving James a whiff of her hair; she did _not_ want to kiss James Potter when she was drunk.

For the third time he marked its strong rose-scent, and instead of moving away, leaned in closer to sniff it.

"You smell…like roses, Lily," he told her.

"You told me that before…" Lily said hazily.

James blinked but recovered and said smoothly, "I didn't think you'd remember."

Lily stiffened a little; she recognized James's tone and actions as what he called a dose of the "Potter charm," and she most definitely did _not_ want that.

"I think I'll go to bed," she said and stood up.

"Of course not. At nine?" James asked and pulled her back down. He tried to do the same thing as the night before but Lily carefully sat back down beside him.

"Ah, you're no fun, Evans," James said teasingly, watching as Lily struggled to come up with a good enough retort.

"Oh, I'm so-rry if the only reason you agreed to this was to get me _drunk_!"

"Yeah, it was, and you're not doing a very satisfactory job. I feel cheated," he continued in a mock-serious tone, still watching her.

Lily flushed. At this point, she could think of nothing else witty enough to say and wished desperately that she had not accepted the second glass. She shook her head frustratedly and James immediately moved a little farther away; he might have wanted to have a little fun but he didn't want to torment her.

Lily seemed to relax once he had done so, and she leaned back more comfortably on the couch. James put his arm around the back of the couch and stared at the fire across the room.

His plan had backfired and he was left without even a drink. He sighed unintentionally and Lily stirred by his side.

"James?"

"Mmm?"

"I'm not doing a very good job, am I?"

James turned to look at her, startled by her matter-of-factly apologetic tone. It was almost as though she was feeling guilty for not providing him with any entertainment in exchange for keeping him from drinking.

"What? No, that's ok, I was just kidding," he protested but Lily cut across.

"Oh, stop. I _know_ the only reason you agreed was to see what I would do if I got drunk and I'm not doing anything very interesting, am I?"

James frowned. "You don't have to do anything _interesting_. You're not making sense."

"Yes, I am. Are you very…disappointed?"

James scowled at her probing questions; at this rate she would figure out that she was entirely correct. Then he decided to change tactics.

"Yeah, I am," he said nonchalantly, and Lily drew in a sharp breath.

"You mean that?"

"Yeah, I do," James said, smirking; the tables were turned now.

"What-what do you want me to do?" she asked hesitantly and James felt his cheeks go red.

"Ah, Evans. Nothing like that," he protested.

"No, really. I don't mind, much, if it isn't too bad, or embarrassing…I know this isn't easy for you either."

James nodded ruefully.

"So, what?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all."

"No, really, there must be _something_ you were expecting. Maybe to finally talk back to you? You've always seemed to have expected that."

James thought she had a point; he Had always expected a witty reply from her, though he never really knew why. But now that the moment had finally come, he didn't somehow think that was worth getting her _drunk_ for. No, now there was something else…

"Well," he said slowly. "There was…_is_ one thing…"

"What?" Lily asked slowly.

"Just…"

Abruptly, he leaned forward and kissed her, on the lips. Lily was surprised at first then reflecting that this was what James wanted, kissed him back.

James wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer and Lily unconsciously twined her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his messy black hair. James ran a hand through her long wavy hair and wrapped a thick strand around his finger, bringing it to his face to smell it, still kissing her.

Once again, the overwhelming scent of roses drove him mad and he pulled his fingers out of her hair and put his hands on her face instead. Damn, she was good. James purposefully drew a little away though it took every bit of willpower he had to do so, and grinned inwardly as she leaned in closer, closing the gap between them.

James ran a hand down her back slowly, running his lips over hers and his hand was just starting to caress her back inside her shirt when she pulled away. She was breathing hard and she was disheveled and flushed; James smiled, a hot light in his eyes and leaned back towards her but Lily jumped up and ran through the door that led to her room, leaving behind a very disappointed James.

* * *

I am such a liar. Why did I say I'd update "tomorrow" when I_ know_ I'm in over my head in Physics? Barking mad. Sorry everybody, but you know, Einstein failed school too. Genius comes in all shapes and sizes.

Also, I am still slightly clueless as to what is is about this story that makes everybody love it, even from not-so-interesting chapter 1. _Shadows and Dreams_, which _I _think much better, doesn't have half so many reviews. Maybe that's just 'cause I've seen where each goes and you haven't. Ha ha.

Again, favorite lists and when the naughty chapters get up on another site, I'll email you.

Starborn, I don't know if you're a regular reader but I didn't mean to offend you.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Whew! It's been SUCH a long time, hasn't it? For those of you who migrated over from , here's the deal: I lost my password and I can't seem to get another. So, I can't exactly update there. Well, finally, here's Chapter 15 of this never-ending tale.

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Ch. 15

Lily didn't wake up the next morning until eight.

James had very considerately given them a day off from practice, so Lily had thoroughly used the opportunity to get some more sleep. She had a splitting headache and felt sick to her stomach.

Finally, at eight-thirty, she gave up trying to will away the nausea and typical hangover symptoms and throwing on an old Oxford University hooded sweatshirt and shorts, walked into the lounge.

The rest of the team was already there; they looked up and said good morning as she entered then went back to their chess games, chats or jokes.

James said nothing, only grinned at her, running a hand through his hair, leaning back a little on the couch he was sitting on to look at her. Lily frowned at him; he had no right to smile so when she felt so horrible. He inclined his head slightly as though beckoning her but Lily firmly turned around and sat next to Darcy instead.

"My head hurts," Lily said quietly, trying not to complain; she had drunk the firewhiskey, after all.

Darcy looked sympathetic. "I'll bet. Did you have more than one glass yesterday?"

Lily groaned a little and nodded. "Two. And that rogue put almost a 100% in the second."

She groaned again and curled up in the armchair, clutching her stomach.

Darcy's eyes narrowed. "Who?" she demanded.

Lily shook her head.

"No, who did? I swear, I'll make them pay so bad-"

"No, Darce, really. It was for a-a bet. Kind of. And don't get mad at him, I'm the one that drank it. Stupidly," she added.

"Oh, then at least tell me who the innocent "he" is. I'm dying of suspense," Darcy said with a teasing smile.

Lily smiled. "And I'm really dying," she said, wincing a little as a sharp pain shot through her stomach.

"Who?"

Lily sighed. "Potter."

Darcy's eyes widened. "Potter? Are you serious? And what did you bet him?"

"Not exactly bet. He wanted me to drink for some reason. Said I would if he didn't." Lily shrugged. "Ah, _that_ explains why you were snogging him then."

Lily's eyes widened, horrified. "I was _what_?" she cried. "What-what else did I do?"

"Nothing else. I think I was the only one who even noticed; you two were pretty hidden in that corner. I swear you didn't do anything stupid," she added reassuringly at Lily's continued horrified expression.

"I-I-," Lily stopped and sighed, then curled up again. "Oh, damn," she added unconvincingly.

Darcy laughed. "'Oh, damn'? What's that supposed to mean? You don't care that you kissed JAMES POTTER?"

"Of course I care. I'm horrified and embarrassed and disgusted. But I'm too tired to care right now."

"And why is that?" a voice asked from behind them. Darcy jumped but Lily closed her eyes.

"Go away, James."

"No. I came to see if you were all right. You looked like you were dying from over there."

Lily opened her eyes slowly. "Well, I am. So now that you've seen, you can leave," she snapped then closed her eyes again.

"Aw, come on, Evans. It wasn't _that_ much," he said with a small smile.

"It was enough."

"To do what, get you drunk?" a wickedly teasing gleam in his eyes, a smirk on his face.

Lily looked up, frowning, and tried not to blush, but said nothing.

"Seriously, Evans. You were almost 100% sober. You were nearly soberer than me and that's saying something since you didn't let me drink at all. Only when…" he trailed off, looking at her meaningfully, still with a teasing glint in his eyes.

Lily felt her cheeks go red but hurriedly seized another subject.

"So you really didn't drink then? At all? Even after I left?"

James smiled, recognizing her evasive tone. "No. Although after you…left, I _really_ wanted to. But I didn't. A promise is a promise, isn't it, Morris?" he asked mockingly, looking at Darcy, who scowled at him.

"Come on, Morris. I didn't _do_ anything to her."

"Sure you didn't," Lily muttered.

James turned to her. "What was that, Evans?" he asked, the teasing tone back again. "What-"

"Leave her alone already, Potter. It's bad enough that she's sick and it's your fault, don't go making it worse!" Darcy said angrily.

James sat down on Lily's other side and looked at them seriously. "Look, Evans…Lily, I'm sorry that you're so sick. I swear I wouldn't have coaxed you to take another if I'd known-"

"Yeah and you were too thick to even notice that I half-died the moment after I drank it too!" Lily said tartly, her eyes still closed.

"What? You mean you were - like this, right after?" Lily sighed in response and curled up some more. James's eyes widened.

"Bloody hell! Why didn't you tell me?!"

Lily shrugged. "When did you find out this kills you so bad?"

"The moment I took the first sip, a few days ago."

James's eyes widened in shock and he grabbed Lily's shoulders and shook her so her eyes snapped open. "Damn it, Evans, don't you even know when you just can't handle something? Why d'you have to be so _stupid_?"

Lily glared at him. "Let go, and look who's talking. Any idiot would have been able to see I did it for you. But not you."

She closed her eyes again, unconcerned by the astonished look James was giving her.

"You-why, what did you say?" he asked hoarsely, unable to conceal the eagerness in his voice. Lily groaned and sat up slowly, then turned to face him.

"I said, I did it for you. So you'd stop drinking. Because I know what drinking does to you. And I didn't want that to happen to you, because, like I said, your life's too good for you to waste it."

James stared at her uncomprehendingly for a minute. Then, he said angrily, "So you'd kill yourself for me?"

Lily winced as his voice echoed in her ears. "Stop shouting. And I would _not_ kill myself for you. It wasn't this bad the first night. Believe me, if I'd known I was going to wake up in hell I wouldn't have touched the damn stuff," she added vehemently.

When there was no response she opened her eyes wearily and looked at James. "What the hell are you looking at me like that for? I'm completely sane _now_. And it seemed like a good idea when I was slightly…intoxicated," she added ruefully.

"Like hell it was," James said truculently and again Lily winced.

"Look, if you can't stop yelling, you can just leave," she said firmly.

"Like hell it was," James repeated more softly. "I swear, Lily Evans, I've never _heard_ of a stupider idea. How dense are you?"

Lily opened her eyes fully, sat up, ignoring the pain shooting through her stomach, and glared at James. "You have already told me that I'm completely stupid, without sense and that you've never seen anybody thicker. Now unless you have anything _else_ to say, LEAVE NOW," her tone dangerously quiet, her eyes flashing.

James stood up and backed away, grinning. "Yeah, one more thing."

Lily's eyes narrowed suspiciously at his smile.

"What?" she said snappishly.

"You sure know how to snog a guy senseless."

He smirked as Lily's eyes widened in astonishment and her cheeks reddened with embarrassment, then sauntered away.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Been a LONG time I know, sorry! Let's see...a bit of L/J, longer than usual. I think 15 reviews isn't too ambitious for you dear wonderful people to come up with is it? ;).

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Lily spent most of the day recuperating and avoiding James, who, to give him credit, tried no more to seek out Lily than he tried to avoid her. She slept poorly, and was up at four, as usual. She wrapped a robe around her t-shirt and shorts and came into the lounge to sit in front of the fire. She must have then dozed off because the next thing she knew, somebody was shaking her gently.

"Evans…Evans! Get up and go sleep in your room. Why're you down here anyway?" James asked as she blinked sleepily and tried to wake herself up. She shook her head; it was impossible to move her limbs off this couch, it seemed and she settled back down. But James was not about to let her rest for a few minutes. He didn't care that she had spent the entire previous day recuperating from a noxious harmful agent and had not slept properly. No, he only wanted to wake her up so he could sit on the warm couch himself.

"Evans, get up! Come on, let's go, NOW!" he practically yelled. Lily sat up straight, completely awakened by the voice yelling in her ear. She looked around, confused, and spotting James regarding her with a satisfied air, scowled.

"What're you doing here?" she asked angrily.

James shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. It's not your private lounge, is it?"

She glared at him. "You know what I mean! Why'd you wake me up?"

James smirked. " 'Cause I wanted to sit here and I don't want to watch you sleep."

When Lily seemed to be unable to find words harsh enough to throw at him, he continued, "I'm afraid the temptation was too great, you see."

"What, to wake a poor, tired girl?" Lily snapped, standing up and gathering her robe around her more closely.

James stared up into her green eyes for the longest moment. Lily sighed in exasperation, giving up on him, and began to make her way back to her room. Her hand was on the doorknob when James called after her, "No, to kiss you."

Of course, after _that_, Lily couldn't get back to sleep again. She got out of bed at five-thirty, showered and dressed in her Quidditch robes then went downstairs, praying that anybody other than James would be up at this hour. Her prayers weren't answered.

She had entered the lounge and made her way to the fire before realizing that there was somebody sprawled on the couch she had slept on earlier. She stopped short, seeing a messy black head and a pair of glasses lying on the floor near the person's hand, which was dangling off the edge of the sofa. Then, she smiled wickedly; James was obviously, deeply sleeping: here was a perfect opportunity to get revenge on him for waking her up then intimating all sorts of disturbing things.

She perched on the edge of the couch and leaning down close to James's ear, opened her mouth to scream something. Half a second later, however, she stopped, uncertain. James certainly looked like he was fast asleep, and she hated waking people up; a closer look, however revealed that James was apparently enjoying whatever dream he was having (he had a slight smile on his face and licked his lips once). Lily wrinkled her nose; he was likely dreaming about a _girl_. No longer feeling hesitant, she put a hand on his shoulder and shook him.

James, unlike Lily, woke up immediately, grabbed Lily's hand on instinct and stared at her a moment, not recognizing her. Then he blinked several times, let go of her hand (Lily immediately massaged it gently, James's grip was vise-like) and pulled his feet in a little so she could sit on the edge of the couch. He was frowning a little, lending his strong face and handsome features an intelligent look.

"What? Why'd you wake me up?" he demanded suddenly, and Lily jumped a little. Now she smiled wickedly, her eyes dancing and said demurely, " 'Cause I wanted to sit here and I don't want to watch you sleep."

James grinned, hearing the same line he had used and his grin turned into a smirk as he remembered what had followed. "Yeah, and I'll bet the temptation was too much, wasn't it?" he pressed after a minute of waiting for her to continue.

Lily shot him a sharp glance, then said coolly. "Yes, that's why I didn't try and resist."

James blinked in surprise then grinned as he remembered her original interpretation of his meaning. Unlike him, she really had felt the temptation to wake him up, not kiss him. James pretended to sigh, Lily scowled and he laughed.

"You need to lighten up," he told her. Lily shook her head wordlessly at him.

"So...nervous?" James asked, wondering why he was making such an effort to avoid a silence, and wondering why it was so hard to maintain a conversation. He had never before found it hard to talk with Lily, nor had he found it necessary to.

Lily, too, found his obvious desire to break the silence that was slowly settling odd. Since when had James Potter cared about what anybody else thought? Since when had James Potter tried to please? She frowned slightly, unable to come up with a satisfactory reason for James's weird behavior and nodded.

"A little or a lot?" he persisted. Lily shrugged, and blushing and ducking her head a little, she scuffed her shoe and muttered, "A lot."

James grinned and ran a hand through his hair. "Me too," he offered with a charming smile and Lily had to smile back.

"Where _is _everybody else?" Lily asked after a minute, looking around with an impatient air.

"Uh, Evans? It's not even six," James pointed out.

"Oh," Lily conceded, glancing quickly at her watch, only to find that it had stopped at 4:25.

Another pause fell and James searched frantically for something to say; something told him that he did not want to be silent with Lily Evans. Another minute passed and James had just decided to bring up her imminent departure from the team when Lily spoke up.

She sighed.

"I wish Chase was here," she said, staring at the fire.

James's face fell; this was a topic he did _not _want to talk about.

"I'm really sorry…about whatever part I had in that," he offered and Lily gave a small nod. She looked forlorn and James felt overwhelming tenderness for her wash over him: she was alone without her family, the only person in that family that she had really ever loved had left her, she was barely 18.

Impulsively, James reached over and draped an arm around her shoulders in a friendly, brotherly hug. Lily hastily wiped her eyes; she had just imagined that it was Chase sitting next to her, his arm around her shoulder, sharing this friendly silence with her, then remembered that Chase had never sat next to her like this, comforted her so. It was not Chase's way to be overly affectionate but Lily, who had only found out he respected and loved her a few years ago, missed his unaffectionate, gruff ways.

"Will you ever make up with him?" James asked after a minute.

Lily shrugged. "I'm going to where he is now, as soon as this is over. I _can't _go home without knowing that he's not mad at me."

"Is it really awful there? At your house, I mean."

Lily sighed. "You have no idea. My parents are all concerned that I should get a good career and be well established in life; after Chase ran away, they got so scared me or Petunia would do the same, and they've been overly strict and unyielding. I practically had to run away myself to come here. And my sister, Petunia, hates me and thinks I'm a freak because I like sports like Quidditch and because I'm a witch."

Lily shuddered. "It's horrible there. I only had my friend, who lives down the street and went to Hogwarts with me, during the summer. I met Chase two summers ago, at a mutual friend's house, but he _never _comes home with me. I see him a lot, though; he makes sure we meet at least twice a month. He knows I'd go mad there if I didn't."

James, whose arm had dropped off her shoulder, picked up her hand and pressed it sympathetically. Lily sighed. "Enough about me. Why don't you tell me why you're so sensitive about your age?"

James winced. "Uh, no."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes. I told you."

"Ah, all right," he said wearily. "I signed onto the Fireballs, as I'm sure Darcy's told you, as soon as I got out of Hogwarts. And my parents were great with that; they were both Aurors at the Ministry, see, and the last thing they wanted was for me, their only son and heir to the prestigious Potter line, to risk my life doing the same thing. And then, after I'd played for year, as you know, I hurt my knee so bad I couldn't fly for six months. Do you know how I got hurt?"

Lily shook her head confusedly. "I thought-"

"It wasn't playing Quidditch. About three years ago, Voldemort attacked my parents' house. It's a known fact that the Potters are the heirs of Godric Gryffindor and obviously, Voldemort, as the heir of Slytherin, had been looking for a chance to catch them. And-they're both great Aurors and all that, but something-went wrong and…" he swallowed, blinking furiously.

"...they didn't...they…died," he finished quietly.

Lily turned and gazed at him sympathetically, but didn't touch him; James's stiff posture and obvious averting of his eyes told Lily that he did not want her to see his tears, that he didn't want her pity.

"And-and the really, _really _weird thing was…I was there too…and I managed to-to escape. I have no idea…"

He stopped and cleared his throat.

"And-and after _that_, of _course _I wanted to become an Auror," he cleared his throat wildly, and then gave up.

Lily put her arms hesitantly around him and James buried his face in her hair, tears pouring down his face, his shoulders shaking a little as he sobbed silently. After several minutes, he raised his head a little, quickly wiping the tear stains off his face, then sat up again.

"And I _wanted _to become an Auror," he said fiercely, looking at her, as though trying to convince her. Lily nodded and he continued.

"But…Dumbledore wanted me kept…out of the spotlight you might say, for a while…only it's been _too _long and I-I can't go and-try again…I'm just too damn scared," he said with a shudder.

Lily stroked his hand softly, comfortingly. "You're finding it hard to work up the courage to become an Auror, because of what happened to your parents?" she asked softly.

James nodded, flushing. "It's stupid, I know and I've been trying for three years to quit Quidditch and go-on, to do worthier things but…I can't do it alone. My best friend's already become one, but only because I made him go on without me…He's there, but, it's not the same, you know? I can't go and start alone, it's like I'm scared Voldemort's going to come after me the moment he finds out or something."

He shook his head despondently.

"I-I'm going to become an Auror, too," Lily said shyly. "My parents mailed me my acceptance letter. Right after the finals. You could come with me…" she said hesitantly, then blushed as James's eyes lit up and he looked at her with an intense ardour in his gaze.

He threw his arms around her and hugging her tightly, said, "Damn it, Lily, why couldn't you have told me six months earlier?" He looked up, his arms still around her, an adoring expression on his face, so close to hers. Lily felt her face getting hot.

"Uh, James, it's not anything-"

"It _is _something," he contradicted. "You've just made my day, hell, you just made my _life_! Ask me anything you want, anything at all, and it's yours. I swear, I can't refuse _anything _my little angel asks me."

He smiled warmly at Lily, who shifted a little away from James's exuberant face so close to hers and said, "Talk to Chase."

"What?"

"Talk to Chase," she repeated, louder. "Tell him it was all a mistake. That he was mistaken, that there's nothing between you and me-"

"-except a life debt," James interjected with a grin.

"-that you've never so much as looked at me twice for there to be any validity in his conclusions." She looked up at him apprehensively. "Can-can you do that?"

James grinned. "Sure I can. And I hope it'll work. But who says I haven't looked at you twice?"

He smiled as Lily blushed and leaning closer, said in a low teasing tone, "You know, we never finished that little thing a couple nights ago."

Lily reddened and she jumped up. "James, stop. I told you I'm sorry about that and I wish-"

"Yeah, and I told you that I _wasn't _sorry," James added, smiling provocatively up at her.

He reached out suddenly and grabbing her hand, pulled her back down. Lily fell awkwardly beside him and before she had a chance to pick herself up, James was pressing himself down over her, his lips on hers, his hands in her hair. Lily was too surprised to react, for an instant, then as James' mouth on hers sent thrills through her spine, her hands crept up his neck, twining in his hair. James grinned ferally and momentarily raised his mouth off hers. He stared into her eyes, smiling triumphantly, for a half second in which Lily gazed at him, uncomprehendingly, her face flushed and her eyes bright before pressing his lips back to hers, more passionately if that was possible.

Lily could not pull away but found she didn't really want to; James Potter was a _very_ good snog, if nothing more. James moved in a little closer, pressing her deeper into the sofa, but when his fingers played with the buttons on her shirt, undoing them, Lily closed her fingers around his hands, stopping them.

She pushed James off of her and sat up, straightening her clothes and running a hand through her hair. She didn't look at James as she did this though he was watching her. She started to stand up, but James stopped her, flinging out a hand. Lily fell back, rather than have him touch her, and sat down reluctantly, not looking at him.

"Aw, come on, Evans. Is that how it's going to be?" he questioned slyly, sliding a tiny bit closer.

"Is _what _how it's going to be?" she asked icily; she was finding that as much as she liked James's kisses, she did _not _like the way he took her unaware and seemed not at all sorry after.

"Are you going to kiss me like that and then say there's _nothing _between us? No chemistry, no attraction, nothing at all?"

She glanced sharply at him to see if he was joking but couldn't tell; although he had a teasing smile on his face, he _sounded _earnest enough.

"Are-are you making fun of me?" she demanded.

James pouted. "How can you ask if I'm making fun of you after I just told you everything that's in my heart?" he asked in the same slightly mocking tone.

Lily laughed a little. "You don't _have _a heart, James Potter. Darcy's told me about you and the way you usually treat girls. No thank you," she added, with a shaky little laugh.

James frowned. "Come on, Evans. Don't play with me. All right, I was kidding when I said I told you what's in my heart and all that - of course I don't know you well enough to love you or anything. But I _can _say that you're interesting and beautiful and that I love to kiss you. Isn't that enough, not to mention the undeniable attraction you have for me, to have some kind of relationship?"

He smiled charmingly. "I _am _going to be seeing a lot of you, you know. You can't resist me forever," he added saucily, suddenly falling lightly back over her legs. Lily shivered and drew herself up, shaking him off her.

"Oh, _can't _I?" she asked scornfully, before standing up and running out of the room, which was suddenly stifling. Things were definitely too hot with James Potter around.


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